


Broken Promises

by Homers_Disciple



Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age II, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Broken future, Brother-Sister Relationships, Family Drama, Garrett Hawke is the best big brother in the world, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Mourning, Older Bethany, Protective Siblings, Varric being a bro
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-28
Updated: 2015-07-02
Packaged: 2018-03-26 04:16:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 19,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3836719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Homers_Disciple/pseuds/Homers_Disciple
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A look at Bethany Hawke's relationship with her brother, the man who would become the Champion of Kirkwall, and the promises he made that he was unable to keep. Featuring an older Bethany hearing the news of her brother, and coming to Skyhold to speak with Varric about days gone bye.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was posted on Fanfiction.net by me(I'm the author) and I was informed about this site from a fellow user. So this is more of a transition from one site to another, but I think this site formats better.  
> Explores Bethany Hawke's feeling as the last member of her family, and of her life. The good times and the bad.

Bethany Hawke comes to Skyhold alone, Varric's letter clenched tightly in her hand.

_ Sunshine, there's something you need to know. I'm so sorry. It's about your brother...  _ the dwarf's letter began.

Aveline had wanted to come with her, but Bethany knew that after everything that had happened in Kirkwall, the city needed its guard captain.

In another day and age, Bethany would have found it hard to believe that her old friend and crush, the Prince of Starkhaven himself, had tried(and failed) to annex the city in chains.

But no, Bethany was older now. After everything that had happened to her, after everything she'd seen, there was little that surprised her anymore.

The fortress that stood as the Inquisition's headquarters was easy enough to find, with all the traffic coming and going, ranging from merchants, to soldiers, to mages.

The guards posted at the gates had gaped at her once she'd told them her name.

"Bethany Hawke" she'd said, and they'd stared at her seeing the resemblance.

They'd let her in soon after, officially she was here as another former Circle mage, but she'd truly come to speak with a old friend.

Once inside Bethany saw the tavern and headed inside guessing he'd be there.

The Skyhold tavern was as any other, filled with people milling about and bards working their craft.

A nice woman asked Bethany if she wanted her to take her traveling cloak, saying that "it's plenty warm in here miss."

But Bethany politely shook her head moving on.

She found Varric playing a game of cards with a Qunari of all people.

As she approached, the horned Qunari looked up from his cards and gave her a curious look.

Varric turned just as she reached them.

Bethany lowered the hood of her traveling cloak and Varric gaped at her.

"Sunshine!" the dwarf said.

"You two know each other? Varric my man, I thought you weren't into humans" the Qunari said smirking.

"It's not like that" Bethany said.

Varric turned to his companion saying "Bull, give us a minute will you."

Iron Bull looked between the two of them and after getting a better look at Bethany, he too saw the resemblance.

The same midnight-black hair and sky blue eyes.

"Alright, we'll finish this later. Might as well, was about to rob you blind" Iron Bull japed, his massive form revealed as he stood and left.

Bethany slid into the seat across from Varric, the seat which had formly belonged to the Iron Bull.

"Who names a Qunari, 'Iron Bull'?" Bethany asked.

Varric laughed saying "it's a long story." The dwarf seemed uneasy, he avoided her eyes and spoke up asking "you want a drink, it's on me."

"No, I'm fine. Varric I got your letter" Bethany said.

Varric sighed, he couldn't say he was surprised, he had actually been expecting something like this for awhile now.

"Your letter said you were there when it happened... when Garrett was left behind" Bethany said slowly.

Varric stared into his mug of ale.

"Sunshin- Bethany do you really want to hear all this?" Varric asked uneasily.

"Please Varric, I want to know the whole story" Bethany pleadly.

Varric took a long drink of his ale before slamming his mug down on the table.

"It started with the business with the Wardens. I... I asked Hawke to help because he had friends in the Wardens and because he'd defeated Corypheus once before. When the Inquisition launched it's assault on Adamant, Hawke decided to help" Varric said, beginning his tale.

Bethany listened in silence as Varric told her about the seige, of the corrupted Wardens and their plight, of their manipulation, of the Inquisitor and her squad along with Hawke and Stroud being pulled into the Fade, of the Divine or what appeared to be her and the aid she gave them, and then of their battle with the  _ Nightmare...  _ and Hawke staying behind so the Inqusitior and the others could escape.

Varric told no exaggerations, no sly comments, only the truth as he had known it.

It was something that no man or woman of any species could claim to have heard from him before.

"And so we landed smack into adamant again and saved the remaining Wardens. I... I wanted to go back for him, I would have, you know that right?" Varric said looking at her somberly.

"I know" Bethany said closing her eyes sadly.

"But it was too late, not even the Inquisitor could go back into there" Varric said.

"Is there a chance... he could find another way out?" Bethany said

"Ancestors I hope so" Varric said, he was no mage, he knew little of the Fade.

_ No one has entered the Fade physically and returned since the First Blight...  _ Bethany thought.

She knew she was being stupid, the rational part of her knew there was no hope for a non-mage to find a way back, but still a part of her wanted to believe.

"I suppose this means the Tale of the Champion is an unfinished series" Bethany said trying to make light, it wasn't funny and she felt empty inside.

"Yeah, I supposed it is" Varric said trying to keep the mood light, but failing just as Bethany had.

Bethany folded her hands together and stared at nothing in particular.

"Listen, if you need anything I'm here for you" Varric said, breaking the silence.

"Thanks Varric, I think I just need to be alone right now" Bethany said.

"I understand, I'll be around if you need anything" Varric said getting up and leaving her be respectfully.

Upstairs, a spirit who had taken the form of a man stirred.

"So alone, the world is empty now. Broken promises, he lied but he never meant too. Father, mother, uncle, and now both brothers, when will it end? I am the last of my family... I'm alone now" Cole said.

Cole was half way down the stairs when he saw Varric waiting for him.

"She needs to be alone now, kid" Varric said.

"But-"

"Trust me" Varric said, and Cole did.

Bethany ended up ordering a drink after all.

She took a long drink and sighed.

_ How did it come to this? Why did he have to be the hero?  _ Bethany thought, pondering over her life and thinking that fairness didn't seem to have a role in this world of theirs.

* * *

When Bethany was a little girl, she used to think that her brothers didn't like her.

Garrett was always around, but he was older and he had friends of his own.

He never treated her badly, and he was always polite. But he never seemed to care for her. He rarely talked to her, and sometimes he would give her a strange look... almost sad.

Why was he sad? Bethany used to wonder.

What had she done?

Bethany had asked her father once, but Malcolm had avoided the question.

"Garrett's older, he doesn't want his kid sister following him around. Bethany no matter what, I promise you that your brothers love you. Both of them" was all her father had said.

That had made Bethany smile.

That night, Bethany had surprised Garrett as he was fixing the fence outside their home in Lothering.

"Garrett... do you love me?" Bethany had asked him.

Garrett had only frozen, the young man putting his tools down to turn to her.

"You're my sister, of course I love you" Garrett said ruffling her hair.

* * *

 

However, her twin brother was another story entirely.

Carver never wasted an attempt to make her life miserable, always trying to grab the food off her plate saying "boys need to eat more than girls, that's why we grow up stronger."

Or else teasing or arguing with her about anything and everything.

If Bethany was tired, Carver said she was lazy.

If Bethany was hungry, Carver said she was fat.

Then there was the time Carver nailed her hair to her bed when she was asleep, how he managed to do that without waking her would forever remain a mystery.

She'd yelled at him and Carver had only laughed.

That laugh died when suddenly Carver found himself being lifted off the floor and flung across the room by an unseen force.

Carver had cried from the pain and Garrett had burst into the twins' shared bedroom.

Garrett was different than Carver, older and more mature, he never teased and never got angry.

He didn't yell at Bethany when he'd seen what she'd done to Carver.

He didn't yell at Carver either, he only hauled Carver up by his sleeves saying "you'll be okay, there's not even a bruise. Let father take a look at it."

"He started it" Bethany had stammered even as Garrett had gently pushed Carver out the door to see their father.

"I know" was all Garrett had said.

Moments later, Bethany heard their father arguing with Carver outside, as Garrett sat beside her trying to free her hair from the nails embedded into her bed.

Garrett never spoke a word as he tried to free her, but they could hear Carver shouting outside.

"It's  _ her  _ fault. She's the freak who can't control her magic! I was just having some fun and.. and she's not like you dad! She's not-"

"He hates me" Bethany had pouted.

"He doesn't hate you" Garrett had said.

"He does!" Bethany had snapped at him.

Garrett had raised an eyebrow at that.

"Carver's always picking on me. He never stops, always trying to make my life miserable. He knows I have trouble with my magic but he-" Bethany had began tears welling up in her eyes.

Suddenly, Bethany felt her older brother's hand on her shoulder.

"Beth... Carver is jealous of you" Garrett said looking at her in that sad way of his.

_ Why is he sad? _

"Je... jealous?" Bethany stammered confused.

Garrett sighed.

"It's because of your magic. You spend so much time with father... he's jealous because father doesn't spend time with him anymore. Carver will never admit it, but he misses our parents' attention. That's why he acts the way he does, he only wants attention" he said.

Bethany made to sit up but only hurt herself as the nails held her hair back.

"I... I never knew" was all Bethany said.

Garrett only smiled saying "it's okay Beth."

He smirked adding "besides... Carver's an ass."

Bethany laughed.

In the end, Garrett had grabbed their father's carving knife saying he had to cut around the nails.

To make up for it, Garrett had cut the other side of Bethany's hair too. "It'll be even that way" he'd said as she pouted.

"There, now you're the prettiest girl in Lothering" Garrett had said when he was done.

Garrett, Bethany decided, was the best big brother a girl could ask for.

* * *

As they got older, the Hawke siblings changed and as they did, so to did their relationships.

The day their father passed away, it was like all three of them aged five years.

It took Leandra months to even leave the house, with Garrett now the man of the family and working whatever jobs he could to support them. Carver started hunting, and Bethany took up sowing, all of them doing their part.

Carver stopped teasing her after their father died, at times he still liked to pock fun at her but he was never cruel the way he used to be.

The Hawke twins came to an understanding to be polite with each other, but that wasn't enough for Garrett whom often intervened on both their behalves.

One time, he even grabbed the both them and knocked their head together.

"You're siblings, stop fighting all the time" Garrett had said laughing, always the mediator.

As they got older, Garrett started asking her if she wanted to tag along whenever he went out.

Bethany had never been good at making friends, her abilities as a mage and her family's fear of the templars kept her isolated, and so when Garrett invited her to come with him she never once refused.

They grew closer, and soon it became known to the villagers of Lothering that if one saw the handsome Garrett Hawke that his shy little sister would be at his side.

One day, Carver got into a fight with  _ three  _ neighborhood kids around his age.

When Garrett had stepped in, he literally had to drag Carver away after first dealing with the three boys himself.

All in all, Garrett only bruised his knuckles but Carver ended up with a busted lip, a black eye, and a nearly broken nose.

That night, when Leandra and Bethany were helping bandage Carver as Garrett stood watch, she asked him why he'd gotten into a fight.

"Because of you! What do you think you're doing walking around where all the boys can see you" Carver said sounding angry.

That left all of them stunned.

"What happened?" Garrett asked.

"Those boys... they asked if Bethany would  _ do  _ things with them. They said she was pretty and-" Carver began.

"They beat you up" Garrett cut in.

"I beat  _ them  _ up!" Carver corrected.

_ So he does care...  _ Bethany thought wide eyed.

Carver gulped in surprise as he found his twin sister's arms flung around him in an embrace.

Leandra and Garrett had smiled at that.

"Thank you" she said.

"Alright, I need to have words with those boys' parents. Seems they never taught their kids how to treat women" Garrett said heading for the door.

"I'm coming too" Carver said making to get up, but Leandra and Bethany stopped him.

"Dear, you're hurt and I don't want you getting into anymore fights" their mother had said pulling Carver down by the ear.

* * *

Years later, her brothers joined the Ferelden army.

Leandra wasn't happy, but she knew she couldn't stop them.

The night they left, Bethany almost cried.

"Take care little sister" Garrett had said ruffling her hair as he and Carver headed out.

Months passed, and her brothers returned having survived the massacre at Ostagar, and they were no longer the young men she used to know.

Both of them had been aged before their time... they'd witnessed so much death in a single day. Both wore the armor of Ferelden soldiers, and both had turned deserter to save their family.

They had had to flee Lothering with the Darkspawn chasing after them every step of the way, the Blight had begun.

While on the run, they bumped into some more survivors from Lothering.

A templar, Sir Wesley and his wife Aveline.

The mutual threat of the Darkspawn brought an uneasy truce among their groups, but still Wesley was wary of Bethany and in turn she was wary of him.

Their mother had decided that they should take ship and head to Kirkwall, her ancestral home where she said they would be nobility...

only disaster struck along the way.

Carver was killed.

The Darkspawn had ambushed them again, and brave Carver had taken on an Ogre all by himself trying to protect their mother.

Leandra had sobbed and wailed.

Garrett only knelt beside his fallen brother, head held low.

"I'm sorry... I failed you little brother. I couldn't save you" was all he said as Sir Wesley gave Carver his last rights.

Bethany had wept in silence as they'd been forced to leave Carver's body behind.

* * *

A year later, Bethany found herself in the Lowtown district of Kirkwall, living in a small and cramped house with her uncle, her mother, and her brother.

Their uncle Gamlen had lost the family fortune it seemed.

And to pay for their way into the city, Garrett and Bethany had been sold into servitude for a year.

It was difficult making a living, their first year in Kirkwall.

Garrett took other odd jobs around Lowtown to make ends meet, coming home with cuts and bruises on his hands, the signs of a working man.

She often waited for him to return him well into the evening. When arrived home an some unnatural time of the evening, she was there to cook him what was left of the dinner she and mother had made earlier.

"You don't have to do that Beth. If you're tired, go to bed" Garrett often protested.

"I want to" she'd answered calmly.

It had become their banter for most evening.

Garrett worrying for her when he should have worried for himself, he was getting less than six hours of sleep a day.

She'd tried to find side jobs as well, but she didn't have the work experience that Garrett did.

Regardless, Garrett didn't want her working too. "I work so you don't have to" he told her once, she still remembers the guilt she felt that day.

She hated her brother for that, but also loved him for it.

One day, the two of them were getting groceries from the Lowtown marketplace.

Garrett counted every coin they spent, always making sure they had enough for rent.

And suddenly Bethany felt a surge of jealousy at the sight of some wealthy merchants passing by and ordering nearly three times the food that her brother had so carefully paid for. He noticed too, but he never said anything.

Garrett saw her annoyed look from the corner of his eye, and calmly put a hand on her shoulder.

"We should head home" he said and Bethany nodded.

No matter their living condition, no matter the struggle just to make rent and feed themselves on a weekly basis, her brother never grew bitter.

He never drunk away his sorrows as their uncle did, nothing ever seemed to get to him.

Bethany often marveled at how 'tough', there was no other word for it, her brother was.

She was silent the whole way back home. If Garrett noticed, he made no mention of it, he trusted her to speak up if something was bothering her.

Bethany blinked in surprise when Garrett suddenly began to whistle.

Slow but calm, her brother whistled as he went about his way through the crowd of people in Lowtown... as he had no care in the world.

That was her brother, he could shoulder the weight of the world and bare it without losing his humor.

 _How?  How can you be so calm when merchants and nobles pig out while we struggle to get food every week?_ Bethany wondered.

"Garrett...." she called.

Her brother glanced back at her, still whistling his tune.

"How do you never let the poverty get to you?" she asked him.

He froze, and for a moment she thought she made a mistake. But then he turned to her, looking as if he'd aged twenty years as he met her eyes.

"At least we have each other" he said.

He ruffled her fair and smiled continuing "I wouldn't trade that for the biggest estate in Hightown."

"Me either" Bethany admitted, a smile forming on her face too.

After everything that had happened to them, they had grown very close. Losing Carver had been hard on both of them, and it caused Garrett to become much more protective of his sister.

Bethany found it annoying at times, yet also sweet.

Later, the two of them got involved in a Dwarven expedition, they had needed coin to return their family's former status of nobility to them. Bethany and her brother felt that it was what their mother deserved, but more than that they need better protection against the templars.

And so Varric Tethras came into their lives, offering to get them into his and his brother's expedition if they could gather the coin needed to fund it.

Bethany had breathed a sigh of relief once Garrett had shaken the drawf's hand saying "deal."

* * *

It took quite some time, but the Hawke siblings gathered the coin needed to fund Varric and his brother's expedition.

They hadn't done it alone, they'd gathered friends and allies along the way and Bethany was happy.

For once, she had friends as well as family.

She had purpose alongside her brother and although it hadn't been easy, the two of them had begun to build another life for themselves in Kirkwall.

In time, just as in Lothering, the people of Kirkwall learned that if the ruggedly handsome Garrett Hawke was around, then his sister was usually at his side.

* * *

 

The night before the expedition was the first time in years when their family argued.

Their mother didn't want Bethany to go.

"I have to go! I worked with Garrett everyday! Mother, I can take care of myself now." Bethany had pleaded with their mother.

Garrett leaned against the wall of Gamlen's hut uneasily.

He watched her arguing with their mother but said nothing. Gamlen was out drinking, he wouldn't have known what to say either.

"I can't have both of you going down there. It's too dangerous" Leandra said.

Bethany turned to her brother saying "Garrett tell her I can take care of myself. You've seen me fight, I've saved your life more than once."

"And I you" Garrett had answered back, not meeting her eyes.

It was true, they'd saved each other lives countless times. In the wilds of Ferelden, and during their adventures in Kirkwall, they'd have been dead without each other.

Garrett sighed saying "Bethany's a grown woman and she  _ can  _ take care of herself."

Bethany smiled, she knew he'd always back her up.

But then Leandra had burst into tears.

Garrett's face fell and Bethany stared at their mother open mouthed.

The Hawke siblings watched as Leandra weep, holding her face in her hands.

"I can't lose you... any of you" Leandra said even as she wept.

Garrett was at her side in an instant.

"It's alright mom" he said cradling her gently.

Bethany felt ashamed at how long it took her to join Garrett in comforting their mother.

Later, Bethany stood in the hallway watching her brother after their mother had finally gone to bed. She wasn't happy, but at least Garrett had been able to reassure for the evening.

 

"You're not going to let me go... are you?" Bethany asked suddenly.

Garrett had been about to go to bed himself when she'd asked.

He'd frozen, a hand on the doorknob to his room.

"No" he said not meeting her eyes.

"Why!" Bethany said, biting her lip to avoid shouting.

"For mother." Garrett answered turning to face her.

That killed any response Bethany had had.

"She can't bare to lose any more than she has" Garrett continued.

"I can take care of myself-" Bethany began only for Garrett to grab her by the shoulders.

"I know you can Bethany. But mother is right, if something happens down there... then both of us shouldn't go. It's dangerous" he said meeting her blue eyes with his.

Bethany bit her lip, she knew he was doing this for mother, she knew that mother had lost so much, but still, she hated it.

"Besides, why are you complaining? You get to stay in this wonderful city, while I have go into the Deep Roads elbow deep in Darkspawn" Garrett said trying to lighten the mood.

Bethany didn't respond, only lowering her head.

"... I could protect you" Bethany said.

Garrett laughed saying "that's my line."

Bethany laughed and Garrett let go of her shoulders.

"You're always doing that you know. Trying to protect me, I'm stronger than you think" Bethany said finally.

"I know" Garrett said softly.

"But?" Bethany said knowingly.

Garrett smirked.

" ** That's what big brothers are for. ** " he answered.

Bethany rolled her eyes.

"Beth, when this expedition is over everything will be better. You'll see, we'll reclaim mother's family legacy and become Nobles. We'll be safe from the templars, and we can finally leave all this poverty behind us" Garrett said.

_ It was nice dream _  Bethany thought.

"You promise?" Bethany said.

"I promise" Garrett said and she hugged him.

"Be safe out there" she said.

* * *

Life, it seemed, was cruel.

Garrett couldn't keep his promise.

_ Too bad... it had been such a nice dream  _ Bethany thought as the templars put her in chains.

Leandra was sobbing and Gamlen only stood back with her with his head low.

"YOU'RE NOT TAKING HER!" Garrett shouted.

Four templars stood before Bethany's brother, yet he didn't back down in the slightest.

He'd only just returned from the expedition, stumbling home only to find the templars taking his sister away from them.

It was the nightmare they'd been fearing ever since Bethany was five years old.

"Don't do anything you'll regret Mr. Hawke. Your sister's cooperation with us is the only reason the rest of your family isn't being charged with anything" Sir Cullen said, his arms crossed.

Bethany watched somberly as Garrett sized up the four templars and they sized him up.

"Bethany is coming with us" Sir Cullen said sternly.

Bethany turned and saw Garrett, her Garrett, always the calm one, always mature, never one to yell, always the diplomat, losing his cool.

She could see that her brother was furious, in her entire life she'd never seen him so worked up.

"Over my dead body" Garrett said coldly.

Garrett reached for his longsword and the templars reached for theirs.

"Stop!" Bethany cut in.

Garrett had already pulled half of his longsword from its sheath, when Bethany had ran between him and the templars, her hand on his wrist.

"Beth..." Garrett said in a low voice, he was looking at her hand on his wrist, the hand that kept him from unsheathing his sword.

"Please don't drag yourself down with me" Bethany said on the verge of tears.

"No. I... I can't. I... I promised father I'd take care of you" Garrett said, stumbling over his words.

"And you did. But now those days are over" Bethany said putting on a fake smile.

"Oh Bethany! What will happen to you?!" Leandra said grabbing her daughter in a tight embrace.

"I'll be okay mother" Bethany said reassuringly.

Sir Cullen spoke up saying "we need to report in at the Gallows. I'm sorry, but we need to leave now."

Garrett glared at him.

Bethany turned to go with the templars but Garrett grabbed her, his hand in hers.

"I'm sorry. I should have been here. I should have protected you. I'll write whenever I can... you stay safe" Garrett said, his composure breaking.

"I will" Bethany said as the templars had to pull her away from her family.

Garrett held her hand as long as he could, but in the end, he was left behind as the templars moved on with Bethany in tow.

* * *

Years would pass before Bethany saw her brother again.

Her time in the Kirkwall Circle of Magi was not always pleasant.

Her Harrowing had been challenging, but she'd overcome her demon, and broken the record for fastest Harrowing in the Gallows.

Bethany's life in the Circle was different than she would have suspected.

Ever since she was a little girl, she'd had nightmares about being taken by the templars. The reality, whilst no walk in the park, was far less traumatic than she would have guessed.

Bethany moved through the ranks in the Circle fairly quickly, she'd always been gifted with her magic.

Even still, she missed the outside world at times.

Always locked in with the others mages left her homesick, it took months for her to shake it off, and it never truly went away.

She ended up taking a position as an assistant lecturer, helping the younger mages in the Circle and getting to know the more senior mages.

She received letters from time to time, and once or twice she was allowed to right back.

Bethany also heard stories of the great Garrett Hawke.

_ Garrett Hawke, the Ferelden Dog who'd risen to Nobility _ . Or at least that's what she'd hear people say about him.

Even a few templars had asked her about him.

"You there, mage. You... you're the sister of Garrett Hawke?" the templars would ask.

"Garrett is my brother" she would answer, cold but polite.

"I see. What's he like? The stories they tell of him are... hard to believe. That he slew a dragon, fought alongside King Cailan, that he was once a mercenary or a smuggler-" the templars would begin.

"You shouldn't believe everything you hear, templar" Bethany would cut in, turning to leave before they had a chance to ask anything further.

_ Funny thing is... most of those stories are true  _ Bethany would think as she left the confused templars in her wake.

* * *

When Bethany heard about her mother's death, she wasn't able to teach for days. She'd read Garrett's letter with hollow dead eyes, and it just hadn't seen real.

Bethany inquired but no matter how much she or Garrett brought it up, she wasn't allowed to attend the funeral.

In time, Bethany was given permission to visit her mother's grave, more than a week after the funeral.

The templars had provided escort, and it had been Gamlen who'd met her that day.

Garrett had been called away on business by the Viscount himself, something to do with the Qunari.

It had been so long since she'd seen her family, that she hugged Gamlen.

They'd caught up as best they could but, the templars hadn't let her stay long.

"I'm sorry Garrett wasn't here to meet you. He wanted to be here, but the Viscount needed him. Hehe your brother's become an important man." Gamlen had explained.

_ An important man? A noble in Kirkwall, and something of a hero to the common folk? My brother has moved up in the world... good  _ she'd thought.

* * *

 

Weeks after that, the day came when Bethany was asked to join a trio of Circle Mages that was to provide entertainment for a Noble's party.

She'd considered refusing, but in the end she couldn't pass up a chance to leave the Circle even if it was for but a night.

Funny how templars 'allowed' their Circle Mages to dress up and entertain the nobles, but Bethany found the fresh air a relief.

And so it was that Bethany found herself standing in the ball room of the Viscount's Keep, weaving small amounts of fire through the air as crowds of passing Kirkwall Nobility watched in awe before moving on.

It was during one of these 'performances' that Bethany saw  _ him. _

She almost hadn't recognized him at first, but she'd known him all her life. Standing amid the crowd of nobility milling about, he stood.

Garrett Hawke, dressed in fine silk robes fit for nobility, but still with his unruly midnight-black hair that he swept to the left, his bangs slanting across his forehead.

Her blue eyes met his, and he smiled. Her only surviving sibling, a reminder of her past, the good days and the bad.

When her crowd of onlookers had moved on, he made his way to her, ignoring some noblewoman who'd battered her eyelashes at him, and suddenly he was at her side.

"Hello Mr. Hawke. Or is it Sir now?" she told him coolly.

She wasn't sure what made her do it, why was she so cold to him? What was this wall she'd suddenly put up?

He frowned at her.

"Neither. I'll always be Garrett to you" he answered.

Bethany arched an eyebrow at him.

"Garrett... it's good to see you" she said.

He looked at her curiously.

"You're upset with me?" Garrett asked softly, he was never one to dance around the issue.

Bethany was taken aback. "I... no that's not-" she began.

"That's fine" he cut in.

"I couldn't keep my promise. I understand why you'd be bitter" Garrett said smiling in spite of everything.

He was happy to see her, no matter what.

"I... I was jealous" Bethany admitted avoiding his gaze.

Garrett said nothing.

"It was a nice dream. Becoming Nobility, restoring mother's legacy" Bethany said sadly.

_ I just didn't get to live it. But I shouldn't hold it against him, if I hadn't stopped him he'd have taken on the templars single highhandedly  _ Bethany thought.

"It was never really my dream either, I only wanted to give mother the life she deserved. And to keep you safe. Seems I failed both times huh?" Garrett said somberly.

"No, don't say that" Bethany said suddenly.

"Beth-" he began.

"You did your best, who knows what would have happened down in the deep roads? From what I hear, you barely made it out alive yourself. We are where we are now, this is our life. We have to make the most of it" Bethany said.

Garrett laughed saying "my little sister's all grown up. When did you get so mature? That's supposed to be my job."

"Carver was the immature one, not me. That's what mother used to say" Bethany said chucking lightly.

"I seem to remember a certain little mage who flung him across the room once" Garrett teased.

Bethany gaped at him. "Well, he was being a... you know" she said.

"An ass" Garrett said smirking.

"An ass" she agreed laughing.

Bethany sighed softly.

"I miss them, both of them. I miss you too" Bethany said at last.

He put a hand on her shoulder. "Yeah."

"I haven't seen you laugh like that in ages Hawke. It's good, seeing the two of you together like that again" a voice said making Bethany jump.

They turned seeing Aveline standing nearby in full plate armor.

"Guard Captain" Garrett said throwing his hand up in mock solute.

Aveline chuckled.

"You're Guard Captain now?" Bethany said in greeting, it'd been years since she'd seen her fellow Ferelden.

"She was promoted after everything that happened with Jeven" Garrett said.

"Congratulations" Bethany said just as Aveline embraced her.

"It's good to see you again Bethany" Aveline said.

"You too" Bethany said.

Aveline released Bethany saying "here I was trying to find your brother and thinking he was avoiding yet another dance with a noblewoman, but instead I find a reunion."

"Tis true, I was dodging the noblewomen" Garrett said smiling softly at his sister.

"Anyway, I didn't mean to intrude. I'll see you around if I can" Aveline said taking her leave of them.

Bethany watched her go.

"She looks good" Bethany said smiling at her old friend.

"Did she write to you?" Garrett asked suddenly.

Bethany shook her head.

"After mother died... you were the only one who sent letters. And then one day those stopped too" Bethany said with a hint of sadness.

It was true, as Garrett had moved up in the world, becoming an important man in Kirkwall, he'd gotten busier and he hadn't been able to send as many letters.

"I'm sorry. With everything that's happening with the Qunari lately, I've been occupied" Garrett said frowning.

"I understand. Being in the Circle isn't all bad you know? I like teaching the little ones, they remind me of myself when I was little girl. Scared of their magic and a lot of them feel abandoned, I try to make them feel safe" Bethany said.

The sound of music got both of their attention and they turned seeing the main attraction for the evening entering the ball room.

A band of famous Orlesian musicians.

The Hawke siblings watched bemused as the Kirkwall nobility descended in droves to the dance floor, where once only a few couple here and there had danced, now dozens of couples were emerging.

"You'd better go. I'm sure the noblewomen will be upset if they don't get a dance with the infamous Garrett Hawke" Bethany said lightly.

It was good to see him again, but she knew their reunion was short-lived.

"Why don't you join me?" Garrett asked suddenly.

Bethany blinked in confusion.

"Garrett... I can't. It wouldn't be proper."

"I don't care about proper. What's wrong Beth? I remember you used to dance with mother and father? Have you forgotten how?" Garrett said.

Bethany laughed as she took his hand, following him onto the dance floor.

Their dance was short, but for Bethany it was more than enough. It was a chance to live again, some of the nobility looked at strange sight warily but said nothing.

To be fair, it did make quite an usual sight, a Circle mage dancing with one of the most important people in Kirkwall.

However, for those who knew Garrett, they saw it as a brother dancing with his little sister.

Later, after Aveline had drunk far too much champagne, Bethany found herself sharing a dance with the Guard Capatin herself while her brother watched on laughing.

The night had been good to her, the reunion a breathe of new life for her, but when the ball was over the templars took her and the other mages back to the Circle.

Garrett had promised to write more, and as Bethany had known since she was a little girl, her brother always kept his promises.

The weeks went by in the Circle, and Bethany found herself getting letter after letter, even as she helped teach the younger mages.

And in time, the templars allowed her to write back more.

* * *

The night Garrett Hawke became Champion of Kirkwall, was also the day Bethany saw a glimpse of a dark future she never wished to see again.

The possibility that Garrett would die too...

The Qunari had waged war on Kirkwall. They'd begun in the dead of night, taking down the City Guard and with ease, and throwing the templars into disarray.

Bethany, having moved up in the ranks of the Circle, was accompanying First Enchanter Orsino along with several other mages when the Battle for Kirkwall had began.

In the in suing chaos, Bethany and the other Circle mages had been thrown into a rushed alliance, with the templars, the remaining City Guard, and her brother.

They'd fought their way to the Viscount Keep, where Garrett challenged the Arishok himself to single combat.

A duel for the city itself.

Bethany had watched, unable to act, unable to step in, as her brother faced the greatest warrior the Qun had to offer.

Wielding a greatsword in one had, and a battleax in the other, the Arishok had nearly slaughtered Garrett several times.

But Garrett, while smaller, was quicker and danced around his foe.

Bethany shook in terror as the Arishok brought his battleax down on Garrett's shield with so much force that it cracked in two, sending shards flying throughout the Viscount's Keep.

Garrett would have been cut in two, if not for his quick reflexes. Bethany had breathed a sigh of relief as he rolled out of the Arishok's reach before getting to his feet again warily.

Bethany had hated having to watch, hated feeling so useless.

She'd nearly burned the Arishok alive more than once, but Varric had grabbed her hand shaking his head at her.

"I know it's hard Sunshine, but Hawke has to do this on his own" Varric had told her.

So she had watched in nervous admiration as her brother managed to get a few strikes past the Arishok's defense.

She'd gasped in horror when the mighty Qunari had managed to graze Garrett's chest with his greatsword, a graze the tore through his armor leaving a trail of blood in its wake.

But Garrett, fighting through the pain, had leapt forward and stabbed the Arishok straight through the heart.

The Qunari had watched dumbfounded as their glorious leader had fallen.

"It is done" Garrett had panted before all the court of Kirkwall, over the Arishok's body.

Whilst the crowd cheered and the Qunari had honored their agreement to leave the city, Bethany only watched eyes wide as her brother leaned against a wall... breathing heavily as blood dripped down from his chest.

There, barely able to stand and bleeding heavily, Garrett Hawke had been named Champion of Kirkwall by the gathered nobility. Yet Garrett had never once faltered, he stood before the crowd as they cheered his name, he let the people have their hero.

 

Later, Garrett had laid in bed for weeks.

A ragged scar running across his chest, barely able to walk, and looking as if he'd aged another five years. The Arishok's blow had almost been deadly, the duel would be the stuff of legends for decades to come, yet Bethany couldn't care in the slightest.

She was only glad that her only surviving sibling was still living despite the close call.

She stayed by her brother's bedside the whole time, just as his friends and allies did.

He'd needed the Circle Healers to aid his recovery, and it had been she whom had helped him take his first steps again.

Things had changed by then however, Garrett had become the single most important person in Kirkwall after Meredith and the Grand Cleric.

He had more power and influence than he knew what to do with, yet the people cheered his name in the streets, and many a commoner remembered the ruggedly handsome refugee who'd arrived to the city in chains with little more than the clothes on his back.

To them, Garrett was a self made man.

Things changed for Bethany too, no longer was she just an extremely gifted Circle Mage, she was now sister to the Champion of Kirkwall himself.

Though Meredith did not enjoy it in the slightest, Bethany was given special treatment by both Orsino and the Nobility of Kirkwall.

For a time, life was good for the Hawke siblings.

Garrett started taking things easier, and Bethany was given more time away from the Circle, and though she could never stay long, always with a templar escort, for a time they were as brother and sister again.

They visited their mother's grave together, and finally had closure.

She'd helped him escape several rather persistent suitors, and he'd listen to her tales of working with the Circle, of becoming a teacher, and earning the title of Enchanter.

But as time went on, Garrett found himself missing their reunions as the city demanded his attention, and the growing conflict of the templars' control over the city emerged.

* * *

 

Still, on Bethany's twenty fourth birthday, Garrett ditched a rather important city meeting for her.

"You're going to get in trouble" Bethany was saying.

She smiled awkwardly as her brother and Varric practically dragged her through Lowtown.

Garrett and Varric were each tugging at one of Bethany's arms, leading her towards the Hanged Man.

Bethany's escort, two templars, followed closely behind with bemused expressions hidden under their helmets.

"I think I can afford to miss one day" Garrett said.

"He really can't, but that's never stopped him before" Varric laughed.

"Really, it's fine. I understand, you're Champion of Kirkwall now. You won't always have time for me or-" Bethany began only for Varric to interrupt.

"Sunshine, you think the man who single-handily defeated the Arishok is afraid of a few angry Nobles" Varric laughed.

"I wish you'd stop telling that story already" Garrett muttered glumly as he pushed open the front door to the infamous Lowtown tavern.

"And deprive the people of Kirkwall from yet another glorious retelling of your story? Of the Ferelden Dog who rose to Nobility. Hawke, never" Varric said in a mock serious tone.

Bethany rolled her eyes as she stepped into the Hanged Man alongside Garrett and Varric.

Isabela, sitting at her usual spot at the bar, flagged the three of them down almost instantly.

"Well that took longer than expected. We've been waiting for all of you, you know" Isabela said.

"We?" Bethany asked confused.

She turned seeing her brother heading towards a table where all their friends and allies were gathered... well  _ almost  _ all of them.

Bethany's templar escort meant Anders and Merrill weren't there for obvious reasons.

Oddly enough... Anders had been acting strangely as of late.

The former Warden had seemed to somber more and more as he got older, and spent less time with his friends. It seemed his Clinic and whatever business he had in Darktown were taking up more of his time lately.

The Prince of Starkhaven strode forward first to greet Bethany.

"Happy birthday madam Hawke" Sebastian Vael said bowing low and pressing a soft kiss to her hand.

Bethany blushed.

"I- It's just Bethany" she said as Garrett laughed patting her on the back.

"Nonsense. You're nobility, and a true gentlemen treats a beautiful woman as she deserves" Sebastian said his posh accent from Starkhaven showing.

Bethany laughed awkwardly.

_ Maker... I'm twenty four and he has me acting like a teenager again. Sigh, Garrett's never gonna let me live this down  _ she thought.

She didn't have to look at her brother to know he was chuckling, she could  _ sense  _ his bemused expression at all this.

Nonetheless, Garrett saved her(like he always did) by asking "so why don't you call Isabela or Aveline, a madam?"

"Yeah?! What's up with that?" Isabela said leaning over on the confused Prince.

Aveline, in her full guard captain plate armor as usual, only gave the Prince a bemused look.

"I- I only meant it as a compliment. Forgive me madam Isabela, madam Aveline, I-" the Prince began only for the former pirate to laugh in his face.

Bethany found herself smirking at that too.

"She had you going there Choir-Boy" Varric said smirking.

Sebastian looked between them, his polished and perfected gentleman act beginning to break in his confusion.

"Poor Sebastian, I ain't no madam" Isabela said pinching his cheek.

Aveline sighed shaking her head at Isabela.

Isabela and Aveline never seemed to get along, only managing to be in the same room if Garrett asked them to be. If Bethany was being honest, she thought her brother was a miracle worker to even achieve that. The two women couldn't have been more different.

"Enough already" Garrett called clamping Sebastian on the arm with a chuckle.

Isabela sighed leaving Sebastian alone, to the Prince's relief.

That was Garrett all right, always the mediator.

"Hawke's right. Let's eat some cake" Varric said calling for Norah the waitress.

It was a small gathering for the birthday of (technically) a noblewoman. Nothing compared to the grand extravagant parties that some other nobles where known to throw, nobles mingling with the other nobles.

Well... Sebastian was actually the highest nobility from Starkhaven, but other than that it wasn't like the typical party for nobility.

Regardless Bethany was happy to see those who could come. That was how Garrett and Bethany liked things.

Smaller and more personal.

It was nice, and Bethany enjoyed having a 'normal' birthday for the first time in years. Well, except for her templar escort whom lingered at a nearby table giving the Hawke siblings their space.

"Twenty four!" Isabela had shouted clambering onto their table after having far too much to drink.

Bethany had raised her eyebrows at that, thankfully Sebastian agreed to see her home.

"Just be careful she doesn't _take_ you home with her" Aveline had called after them.

Sebastian had visibly stiffed at that, the prince had slung the former pirate over his arm. He nodded before continuing out the door muttering something about his vows.

Aveline and Varric stayed for awhile, but as night began to fall. They too had their business to attend to.

From there, Hawke siblings had the table to themselves.

"Thanks for this Garrett, I know you probably shouldn't have skipped a meeting" Bethany said, now that they were alone.

"I promised I'd always be there for you" Garrett said.

"I know" Bethany said smiling.

Garrett was happy to see her happy, she could see that.

All her life, Garrett had always seemed to care more about others than himself. Even now, he made time for her when he probably shouldn't have. She liked to think that their father would have been proud of the man his eldest son became. Aged before his time, but always with a kind heart.

"Hey, are you alright? Something's been bothering you tonight, I can tell" Garrett asked suddenly.

She froze, she could never hide anything from him.

"I... it's just something I've been thinking about lately" Bethany said staring down into her mug of ale somberly.

"What?" Garrett asked frowning.

"Carver. Today would have been his birthday too" Bethany said slowly.

The air around them changed.

Neither of them had mentioned Carver in years.

It wasn't that they hadn't mourned him, they had, but everything that happened to them over the years it had become yet another loss they had endured.

She looked up to meet her only surviving brother's eyes.

Garrett was silent for a moment as he closed his eyes, he did that at times whenever he was sad or frustrated.

"It gets harder and harder to remember what he looked like. When we first arrived in Kirkwall, I could have painted you a picture of him. Now... I'm not so sure" he said sadly.

"Yeah" Bethany said taking his hand in hers.

The two of them were really the only family they had left.

Gamlen was around, but they had never really grown close with him.

"How do you think he would have turned out?" Bethany asked.

She had a hard time imagining an older Carver, she could only ever see him as the young broodish man he'd been on the road to Kirkwall.

Garrett smiled sadly.

"He would have been a troublemaker. I'm sure he'd have forced his way onto the deep roads expedition whether I wanted him to go or not" Garrett said smiling sadly.

"Still, I think he would have matured like we did" Bethany began only to chuckle as she continued "or maybe not. He was always so stubborn."

"Stubborn, but also strong. Do you remember the time he fought  _ three  _ boys _by himself_ all because of what they said about you" Garrett said grinning fondly at the memory.

Bethany rolled her eyes.

"Some hero he turned out to be, he ended up wincing in pain for days after that. If you hadn't bailed him out, he might have been seriously hurt. But... it was sweet. He cared... in his own way" Bethany said softly.

_ _There was that time he nailed my hair to the bed though..._   _ Bethany thought.

"He'd have probably gotten into a fight the day we landed in Kirkwall. All those times people called us refugees 'Ferelden Dogs' hehe" Garrett said.

"I'd bet you would have had to pull him out of a fight at least once a week" Bethany said laughing.

Garrett raised his mug of ale remembering fallen family.

"To Carver" he said.

"To mother" Bethany said raising her own mug.

"To father" Garrett said clamping his mug to hers in cheers.

* * *

_ **Life, it seemed, was cruel.**   _

Bethany would have thought she'd learned that lesson the first time.

The day Anders blew up the Kikrwall Chantry, slaughtering dozens of innocent people, she thought it was some cruel nightmare.

How could the world be so cruel as to throw away everything she and her brother had built, everything they'd painstakingly crafted with what life had dealt them?

Meredith had called for the Right of Annulment, the entire Circle of Magi to purged, all mages put to death.

The battle throughout the city had been worse than the clash with the Qunari.

The templars hunting throughout the city, but still some mages escaped the city in chains and spread word to the other Circles.

Rebellion was coming, Anders had succeeded it seemed.

Bethany had stood her ground with First Enchanter Orsino and the other Circle mages, and Garrett and his companions had stood with her.

They stood with the Mages.

But in the end, neither side had been pure of intent.

Orsino had dabbled into forbidden arts and transformed himself into an abomination, all for the sake of the mages, but his power proved his corruption.

Garrett and Bethany, along with his companions, the City Guard, and the remaining Circle mages had had to put him down.

Meredith had been corrupted and driven mad by a fragment of the red lyrium that Varric's brother, Bartand, had discovered in his expedition years ago.

The Knight Commander had turned against both her templars and the mages, and in so doing turned all against her.

When the battle was over, Meredith knelt dead and imprisoned within the red lyrium that corrupted her body and soul.

The templars and mages had parted ways that night, both sides having to regroup after the losses suffered.

Sir Cullen had grown weary of battle, as had Garrett.

Both sides knew war was coming, the Circles would be in open rebellion and the templars would most likely have the full support of the Chantry behind them.

Aveline ended up staying in Kirkwall, as guard captain she couldn't leave it behind.

Sebastian Vael, the Prince of Starkhaven, had left the city vowing vengeance against the mages for their hand in the murder of the Grand Cleric.

But for as Garrett, Bethany, and their companions?

They knew they couldn't stay anymore, whether they wanted to or not, they were a part of this madness.

Word of the slaughter in the Kirkwall Circle had spread quickly.

Anders had become a rallying cry, a remainder that mighty templars could be defied.

Garrett had also become involved, becoming a symbol of hope. For he had defended the mages and saved countless lives in Kirkwall.

One by one, the rest of their companions had parted ways with them, saying their farewells in an uncertain future.

For a time, the Hawke siblings traveled together. They were decent times, but they could not last.

When Garrett and Bethany had parted ways, it was under the promise that they'd see other again.

Fearing that Divine Justinia V was planning an Exalted March on Kirkwall and the Free Marches, Garrett had decided to travel alone and in so doing divide the Divine's forces should she send them to hunt him for his involvement in Kirkwall, where  _ it  _ had began.

As for Bethany, she'd decided that her fellow mages in the Free Marches needed help. She would aid them in the troubling days to come.

"I never thanked you" Bethany said on the day of their parting.

Garrett had arched an eyebrow at her.

"For standing up for my people, for standing by my side" she said.

"I could never stand against you Beth" Garrett had said.

"I love you for that, but you didn't have to do it. You didn't have to get involved... thank you" Bethany said honestly.

"Everything's changing now. Be careful out there Sis" Garrett said.

"I should be telling you to be careful, knowing how trouble always finds you. I'll be fine, I'm not that little girl anymore, I can take care of myself" Bethany said softly.

"I know" Garrett said smiling.

Once, Bethany would have thought he was just being kind to her. But this time, she could tell he was honest, he believed in her.

"I'll miss you" Bethany said sadly.

"We're flesh and blood Bethany. No matter what happens, I'll always be there for you, I promise." Garrett said putting a hand on her shoulder.

** " **That's what big brothers are for** ** " the Hawke siblings had said in unison, sharing once last embrace.

* * *

_ The present _

Bethany sat in a bench of the Skyhold garden.

It had been a place for her to think away from the tavern noise, and she'd grown tired of telling drunk soldiers that she wasn't looking for accompany.

One man had tried to get touchy and Bethany had called forth a ball of fire in the palm of her hand.

"I'd like to be alone now" she had said, completely deadpan as the flame magic hovered calmly before her.

The man had left shortly after, frightened beyond his wits.

The sun was setting as Bethany sat in the garden, but she hardly noticed.

"You look like him" a voice said suddenly.

Bethany looked up to see the Inquisitor herself.

The Inquisitor took a seat beside her without waiting for an invitation.

"People have been saying I look like my brother all my life" Bethany muttered.

"Take it as a compliant. Hawke is a good looking man" the Inquisitor said.

Bethany said nothing.

"You know, if I wasn't in a relationship I'd have no shame in admitting that if Hawke had turned his attention towards me then I'd have returned them" the Inquisitor laughed.

_ _She's funny. No wander Varric likes her_   _ Bethany thought.

"Inquisitor-" Bethany began

"Please, call me Lyanna" the Inquisitor interrupted.

"Lyanna, did Varric tell you I was here?" Bethany asked.

"That, and there was a story going around the tavern about a man who'd foolishly tried to grope a mage. Nearly got his face burned off" Lyanna said.

Bethany shrugged and Lyanna laughed.

"You know, when people first meet it's polite to shake hands" Lyanna said.

Bethany raised a hand and Lyanna shook it.

"Varric didn't say how long you were planning to stay. If you're only visiting, then stop by the tavern later and I'll buy you a drink. If you plan on staying with the other mages here, stop by the tavern and I'll still buy you a drink" Lyanna said smirking.

Bethany chuckled at that.

"I haven't decided yet" Bethany said.

"If you need anything... you need only ask. It's the least I can do" Lyanna said growing serious.

"Thank you, but I'm fine. I think I'll go and rent a room, it's getting dark" Bethany said getting to her feet.

As Bethany was walking away, the Inquisitor called out to her.

" ** Your brother was a hero, you know ** " Lyanna said.

Bethany stopped in her tracks. Frozen mid step.

"He fought alongside me in the Fade. Saved my life once too, pulled a demon off me with his bare hands and stabbed it. Then he took on the Nightmare all by himself. The Inquisition and its forces, as well as the Wardens owe their lives to him. Hawke was a hero" Lyanna said, her eyes shinning with pride for a fellow legend of Thedas.

Bethany turned back to face the Inquisitor.

"I didn't want a hero... I wanted my brother" Bethany said, her eyes hollow.

Lyanna's face fell, she had no words.

"Goodnight" Bethany murmured turning her back on one of the most powerful women in all of Thedas.

Bethany walked off into the night alone, wiping the tears from her eye.

The last Hawke.

_ Garrett... you promised you'd always be there for me. Why couldn't you keep that promise? _

 


	2. Aveline Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aveline's part of 'Broken Promises' that follows her mourning Hawke, the Champion of Kirkwall, and one of the best friends she ever had.   
> She drinks in his name and remembers better days

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By request of some users on Fanfiction.net and Reddit, I've decided to make chapters of 'Broken Promises' for each of Hawke's companions. This one is really long, I had to break into two parts and part 1 is still crazy. I could seriously write a whole book for each companion hehe.

_Hey Aveline, been awhile I know._

_I heard you gave our old friend Sebastian quite the beating, sent him and his army running back to Starkhaven did you?_

_Maker, Kirkwall would_   _probably fall into the sea_  w _ithout it's guard captain._

_Anyway, something's happened and I thought you should know._

_I've enclosed a second letter for Bethany, I'm not sure where she is but I know you do, so please see that she gets it._

_It's about Hawke._

_Hawke... Hawke's gone_

_\- letter from Varric_

Aveline Vallen read the letter two more times before it finally sunk in.

The Kirkwall Captain of the Guard set the letter down on her desk and leaned back into her chair with a far off look in her eye. Within moments, the door to her office opened and one of her guardsmen came in with yet another report in hand.

She accepted the report with a curt nod and dismissed the man. Always more paperwork for the Guard Captain it seemed.

No matter, some issues could wait. Sighing, she got to her feet.

She had a letter to send Bethany's way.

...

Five days, that's how long it took for Bethany to get Varric's letter.

Another four days, and Bethany arrived back in Kirkwall.

Their reunion was short-lived, Bethany had decided to pay Varric a visit as she wanted to know more about what happened to her brother. She hadn't stayed long, hours after she arrived she was already booking a ship for passage across the Waking Sea.

Aveline decided to see her off, she had thought about joining the young woman, but no. Kirkwall needed it's Guard Captain as Varric had said.

"Thanks for everything Aveline" Bethany said as they walked down the docks together.

"It's the least I could do, how are you holding up? Varric's letter was short and to the point, but we all grieve" Aveline said.

The two of them were walking down the docks together, Aveline in her Guard Captain's plate armor, and Bethany in light blue robes that mages commonly wore.

"I'm surviving" Bethany said softly.

It seemed Bethany was taking the news remarkably well, but Aveline didn't know if that was her putting up a strong front or else feeling numb to all this.

"In the end, that's all we can do" Aveline said firmly.

She understood the pain of losing the ones you love, Aveline had lost her fair share in life.

The last four years had been hard on both of them, Bethany had done her part to help the mages in the Free Marches during the war. She rarely fought, preferring to give medical aid whenever possible and help other refugees when she could, but she'd seen a lot of death.

And as for Aveline? Well the city was still reeling from the invasion.

Hard to believe that the innocent choir boy they'd known for years would try to annex their city.

Sebastian Vael, the Price of Starkhaven, had invaded Kirkwall some time ago claiming vengeance for the grand cleric.

Aveline had rallied the city guard and defended Kirkwall even as Sebastian lay siege to the city, there were battles almost every day but they never broke. Some of the Starkhaven scouts managed to get into the city however, and with some careful sabotage they broke down the city's defenses letting Sebastian's forces in.

That's when Viscount, former Seneschal, Bran officially asked the Inquisition for aid.

It took time, but the Inquisition sent military aid and the Prince of Starkhaven was forced to flee the city after suffering major losses in the battles that followed.

Aveline herself had nearly taken the prince's head off. She'd fought him _one on one_  amid a sea of Kirkwall City Guard and Starkhaven soldiers in one of the last battles inside the city. It seemed Sebastian could use a blade as well as his bow, but Aveline was better. Regardless, his royal guard had intervened firing arrows at her until they pulled their prince to safety before fleeing.

The city had never been the same since all that, the Mages and Templars fighting followed by an invasion, it was a wonder anyone in Kirkwall was still sane.

Sooner then she would have liked, Aveline and Bethany reached the ship awaiting them.

"You a mage?" the boat captain asked upon seeing Bethany walking with her staff. It wasn't uncommon to see mages traveling about on their own now, the Inquisitor had freed the circle mages from the chantry and the templars, but many were still wary of their kind in the days following the war.

"She is, got a problem with that?" Aveline said cutting in before Bethany could answer.

"Nope" the boat captain said suddenly avoiding her's gaze. The man knew Aveline's reputation, and any woman whom would square off against a Prince in single combat was someone you didn't want to mess with.

"Well then, I'll see you around Aveline" Bethany said giving her a quick goodbye hug before setting foot on the boat.

"You be safe out there, okay" Aveline called handing Bethany her luggage bag.

"Yes mom" Bethany said with a smirk.

Aveline grinned softly as the boat captain undocked his boat getting ready to set sail.

"I mean it, write me when you get there so I know you made it. Oh, and say hi to Varric for me" Aveline said.

"I will" Bethany said as the boat began to take it off.

Aveline watched her go, watched the boat sail off into the distance, and waved one final time as Bethany did the same.

_Maker, I hope she's okay_ Aveline thought.

* * *

Walking through the streets of Kirkwall was never easy these days, reconstruction would take a long time and though buildings could be replaced, people couldn't.

There were still signs of the invasion everywhere, City Guards paroling the streets in higher numbers joined by militia that Aveline herself had set up to aid the Guardsmen during the fighting.

Militia, ordinary citizens taking up arms alongside her guardsmen, that's what Sebastian Vael had driven Aveline and her people to.

Aveline found the tavern she was looking for with easy, the way had become second nature to her years before with Hawke and his sister.

The infamous Hanged Man.

Remarkably, the tavern had held up pretty well after everything that the city had been through. Crowds of people still roamed in and out, human or elf, and Corff the bartender still tended to his customers alongside his faithful waitress Norah.

Aveline found it easy walking through crowds these days, the common people of Kirkwall loved her, she had beaten the invaders back and personally trained most of the milita. Corff handed her a mug of ale without a payment, he'd insisted that she need not pay for a drink the rest of her life and for once, Aveline let that slide.

She took an empty seat at the bar and stared into her mug of ale.

The drink wasn't even that good, but it reminder her of better days.

Of Garrett Hawke.

* * *

The day Aveline met Garrett Hawke was also the day she lost her husband.

She'd survived Ostagar, and together with Welsey they'd made a run for it through the wilds, stumbling into a chance meeting with the Hawke family.

Only Aveline and Wesley had been fighting off a horde of Darkspawn at the time, and their chances of survival had been rather slim.

Garrett and his siblings didn't have to help them, they could have left and let the matter settle itself, but no, Hawke was not that kind of man.

He'd appeared like something out of a story book, charging into the fray with sword and shield alongside his siblings.

After they battle, the two families had forged an easy truce. Her husband was a templar, and Garrett's sister was an apostate, it's miracle they didn't break into a fight within five seconds of meeting each other, but somehow they worked together.

They fought their way through the Wilds, but their road to Kirkwall was filled with tragedy. Garrett's little brother Carver had died in battle, and Aveline's husband Wesley had been infected by the Darkspawn blight.

Aveline and the others would surely have died in the wilds too, the Darkspawn hounding them at every turn, but they were saved by a certain Witch of the Wilds. Flemeth may have saved them, but she'd come too late to save Carver, and as for Wesley? There was no cure for the blight, only a slow agonizing death.

In the end, Garrett is the one who put Wesley out of his misery.

"No wife should have to kill their husband" was all Garrett muttered as he took the knife and knelt down beside Wesley.

Aveline closed her eyes and looked away. She didn't want to remember him like that, infected and dying a slow death, she wanted to remember him as the man she had fallen in love with.

Garrett's sister, Bethany, put a hand on her shoulder as Wesley died.

"With an end, there can be no peace" Flemeth had said darkly.

Those words did little to comfort Aveline, but she wiped the tears from her eyes, and continued on with Hawke family and Flemeth. Neither Carver nor Wesley had even given a proper funeral, such was their cruel world. They'd survived, but they lost two along the way.

* * *

Two days later, and what was left of the Hawke family and Aveline were escorted by Flemeth to the city of Gwaren.

It hadn't been easy, but they'd managed to book passage aboard a merchant ship.

A lot of being were book passage these days, so many refugees trying to out run the Blight by sea. For two weeks they were packed into the cargo hold along with the others fleeing Fereldeners, it wasn't a pleasant experience for anyone.

At night, Aveline had trouble sleeping. She saw Wesley in her dreams, saw the infected pale white skin and the thin dark lines that his veins had started to become, she saw his death at the hands of Garrett Hawke.

She wasn't the only one who couldn't sleep, she often woke in the dead of night, the sound of the other sleeping refugees filling the cargo hold, to see Garrett sitting in a corner by himself with his head in his hands.

It seemed he had his own ghosts that haunted his dreams.

She had lost her husband, he'd lost his little brother.

He looked horrible, a broken man who kept on living, but he never let his family see it. Til this day, she still doesn't know if Garrett ever knew that she saw him like that.

His mother barely talked anymore, and Bethany would cry sometimes but Garrett would wipe her tears saying "its not your fault."

Garrett was a man aged beyond his years, taking care of his family and never letting his own weakness show. She saw how he took care of his mother, and looked out for his sister.

Yet she couldn't bring herself to like him.

Logically she know it was stupid, but emotionally... she remembered him kneeling down and putting Wesley out of his misery, she even had nightmares about it.

It wasn't hatred, it was a cold distance, apathy at it's finest.

They didn't talk or spend time together on the way to Kirkwall, little did they know how that would change as the years went by.

* * *

Their way into Kirkwall was anything but conventional.

Leandra had thought her brother Gamlen could pay their way into the city, the Amell family was nobility in Kirkwall. But Gamlen had lost the family fortune it seemed, and so he had sell his niece and nephew into one year of servitude.

Smugglers or mercenaries, that was the choice given to Garrett.

He chose the smugglers because he didn't want his sister killing for money. Aveline thought that a wise decision.

Gamlen got them into the city, and that was nicest thing she could say about the man.

He lived in some old hut in Lowtown, was buried in debt, and had a notorious drinking problem. Gamlen's home did fit all of them, five people crammed into some miserable hovel never works out very well.

The women were given the only bedroom, with Leandra and Bethany getting the only beds available, beds that were  _too small_. The Hawke women's feet sprouted out of the covers when they went to bed Aveline noticed.

She was given pillows and blankets in a makeshift mattress with what they could spare. Gamlen slept on some couch he had in his storage room, and Garrett...

Garrett slept on the cold hard floor of his uncle's hut, self-sacrificing ass that he was.

Aveline should have offered to trade places with him, to sleep on the floor of the living room so he could be with his family, to let him have the blankets and the only spare pillow,  **but she never did**.

A part of her remembered how he had killed Wesley, a mercy to be sure, but another foolish part of her couldn't stand him no matter good a person he was.

It wasn't logical... it was emotional.

He always woke up first, even before Aveline, and was usually found getting breakfast ready for them before his mother took over and allowed him to take a bath, which he always took last.

Him and his sister started their lives as smugglers almost immediately after being let inside the city, leaving Aveline with nothing to do but help Leandra clean or else escort her through Lowtown when they went for groceries.

They weren't treated well inside the city, none of the Ferelden refugees were.

Most native Kirkwallers didn't like their city being flooded with refugees running from the Blight, they were often poor and crowded the streets.

Crime rose significantly with the desperate people just trying to get by, throngs of homeless emerged as less fortunate refugees found themselves without work.

_Ferelden dogs..._

That's what the local Kirkwallers called all refugees like Aveline and the Hawke family, they sneered at the sight of Fereldeners and scoffed at their presence.

It became another aspect of life for them, the prejudice and discrimination from the more wealthy Kirkwallers.

Aveline saw that it would get to Bethany at times, but Garrett was always there for her, he was a good brother.

She found it hard to hate Garrett, he was too much of a good man for that, she only felt that same cold apathy for him for killing her husband. And she hated  _herself_ for that more that anything, she was an adult acting like a child.

In the end, she decided she just needed time alone and so set out to leave as soon she could, she wouldn't be a burden on others if she could help it.

Aveline didn't stay with the Hawke family long, only twenty four days until she managed to find work on her own as well as an Inn to spend her nights.

Bethany and Leandra had been sad to see her go, Gamlen was happy for the extra space and one less mouth to feed. Garrett only told her 'good luck out there' as she left.

She did odd labor jobs around Lowtown, before deciding she wanted to join the City Guard.

Funny enough, she got the idea from a Guardsmen. She was getting groceries in the market one day, when a thief made off with some old woman's coin purse.

Aveline had put a stop to that soon enough, she'd ran to meet the thief as he made a run for it and punched him square in the face.

Knocked him out in one blow.

The people in the marketplace had proceed to applaud to Aveline's embarrassment. Nonetheless, the City Guard arrived after she'd given the old lady her coin purse back, the Guardsmen had been startled to say the least.

"You ever think about joining the guards?" one of the Guardsmen had told after taking her statement about the events.

* * *

Sixteen weeks of job training and she was officially made a City Guard, breaking the record for fastest to graduate the training program.

She found some of the same prejudice for Ferelden refugees within the guards, but the majority didn't care where she came from, only that she did her duty and put her life on the line.

Aveline was walking through the Hightown marketplace, smirk planted firmly on her face, papers authorizing the release and use of the Guardsmen plate-armor in hand, when she saw two familiar figures.

The Hawke siblings, Garrett and Bethany walking amid the throngs of people milling about the marketplace.

She halted, it had been a long time.

Bethany looked more or less the same, clothes fit for a commoner with just a twinge of poverty.

Garrett was different, he wore common rags, started growing a beard, and looked like he hadn't been getting much sleep. There were dark bags under his eyes as he and his sister walked through the marketplace.

Bethany was the one who spotted her first, she was chatting about something or other whilst her brother listened nodding his head every few seconds, when suddenly she'd done a double take and smiled Aveline's way.

She watched bemused as Bethany tapped her brother on the arm pointing Aveline out to him as well.

Within moments the Hawke siblings were standing before her. Bethany threw her arms around Aveline in a hug saying "it's good to see you."

"Ah, nice to see you too" Aveline said slightly surprised at that.

Garrett had only chuckled, a rare thing to see she might add, and only shook her hand politely, adding "looks like you're doing well."

"It's been weeks! We haven't heard from you in forever. It's our day off and we were just going to get something to eat, you should join us, us Ferelden have to stick together." Bethany said looking hopeful.

_A City Guard having lunch with a pair of smugglers? Not a good idea... not even for them_ Aveline thought feeling a profound sense of guilt nonetheless.

As his sister spoke, Garrett noticed what Aveline was holding, his sky blue eyes lingering on the papers in her hand, and Aveline suddenly felt self conscious for reasons she did not fully understand.

"I... maybe now isn't the best time" Aveline said awkwardly.

Bethany frowned at that saying "why not? We can find a better time if that's-"

Only for Garrett to cut his sister off, gently placing a hand on her shoulder, saying "Beth, she's joined the City Guard."

_He's perceptive, that Garrett Hawke. Doesn't miss a thing_ she thought.

"I finished the training program today. They gave me my papers to get plate-mail armor" Aveline said holding her papers up for Bethany to see.

Bethany paused for a moment looking at the paper before smiling again.

"Really? That's wonderful. I bet all that army training made things easier. Are you sure you can't join us for lunch?" Bethany said beaming.

"I... I don't think that would be a good idea right now" Aveline said avoiding Bethany's eyes.

"Bethany, we still have a year to work off. Maybe now isn't the best time to catch up, besides I'm sure Aveline's tired of this ugly old mug" Garrett said gesturing at his face with a small smile.

_Did he just call his face an ugly old mug? Who is he kidding?_ Aveline thought rising an eyebrow at that.

"Oh" Bethany said realizing what her brother meant about now not being a good time.

"It's okay, maybe we can meet up again in a year" Aveline said softly, she liked that idea if she was honest with herself.

She was lying to herself if she said she had let go of that cold apathy for Garrett, but she had started to see Bethany as a little sister. She'd been through a lot with the Hawke family, that kind of thing builds bonds with people.

Maybe in a year, things would be better. The Hawke siblings wouldn't be smugglers anymore, and maybe Aveline would be an adult and finally stop trying to make herself hate Garrett for a good deed done out of mercy.

"I'd like that" Bethany said reaching for another hug.

Aveline laughed at that, really Bethany was a sweet girl.

"I'm glad you're moving up in the world. It's good to know not all of us Fereldeners are stuck in poverty" Bethany said honestly.

_It must be hard for them, but they have Garrett and no matter how I feel... he is a good man_ she thought.

"See you around, Aveline" Garrett said softly as he and his sister waved goodbye and went on their way.

Aveline watched them go before continuing on her way, she had a Guardsmen plate-armor to pick up.

Little did Aveline know that she'd been seeing Garrett sooner than she'd expected.

* * *

It's more than three weeks since she'd last seen the Hawke siblings, it's the dead of night, and she's off duty but that's never stopped her before. Even her partner said she was crazy, but she was determined to put a stop to the wave of crime that had started with the influx of desperate refugees.

She's not in her guardsmen plate-armor, and without it she feels exposed, but it's better this way.

Aveline walked through the streets of Lowtown, turned a corner down an alley, and found the lone figure awaiting her arrival.

He was a tall man in rags and a hood, leaning against the wall, and under the night sky he was only visible to those brave enough to walk the streets at night and enter dark lonesome alleys. The figure could have passed for just another homeless refugee, but he could also pass for a thug you didn't want to meet on a night like this, most people would steer clear to be on the safe side.

Aveline felt her hand move to the knife she'd hidden in her belt, but stopped herself from revealing too much.

She'd somehow managed to make an arrangement with a shady person who knew valuable information that could help the City Guard. She'd never met the man until tonight, and she was still wary.

The figure turned to her as she approached.

"You him-" she began, only to halt at the sight of sky blue eyes under the figure's hood.

"Been awhile, eh?" the man muttered in a low tone.

_Garrett Hawke_ Aveline thought at the sight of the figure in rags and hood before her.

Those sky blue eyes of his met hers, and she got the message.

_No names, it's safer that way_

"What do you have for me?" Aveline muttered in a low tone.

"There's a shipment being stored in Darktown, if you know where to look. Cargo that could be freed with the right manpower. Four guards posted" Garrett said nearly whispering.

Aveline crossed her arms saying "I need more than that."

Garrett shifted, reaching into the sleeves of the rags he wore, before pulling out a small envelope for Aveline. Wordlessly, he passed it her and she took it.

"There's falsified documents in there, mixed up paper work for 'special' cargo to get squeezed in with the rest. And the name of a docker paid to ignore any sounds he hears on his shift" Garrett whispered simply.

"How did you get this? Won't they know this is missing?" Aveline whispered back.

"No, this is a copy I made. You'll find the real documents with the cargo" Garrett whispered.

Aveline shook her head, how much danger did Garrett put himself in to make these copies? How did he know to come to her about this and not some other guard? There were so many unanswered questions running through her head.

"How long until that cargo is shipped?" Aveline asked through gritted teeth.

"Four days" Garrett answered.

Aveline reached for her coin purse.

Under the cover of night, hidden in some dark alley of Kirkwall, Aveline traded coin for information and that is how she unknowingly made Garrett Hawke an informant.

* * *

It took awhile, but Aveline convinced her superiors about the tip she'd gotten, and the City Guard set up a strike team.

Aveline and the City Guard raided the cargo hidden in Darktown, inside they found nearly two dozen Ferelden refugees. All of them young women, all of them bound for Tevinter, more slaves being smuggled out.

The City Guard found the falsified documents, the real ones this time, and made a string of arrests, ranging from the men guarding the cargo, the docker paid to look the other way, and to a group of men who found the young women.

As for the young women they rescued? They were taken to the Viscount's Keep, asked to give statements, before having their terrified families come and take them home.

Aveline took to watching the tearful reunions, smiling as she did so, whilst a few of the guardsmen patted her on the back for her 'intelligence gathering'.

Oddly, some of her fellow Guards didn't take too kindly to her launching off such an operation. A junior member getting information that the seniors couldn't. Aveline took it in stride, any guard worth their weight wouldn't have such petty thoughts as far as she was concerned.

Later, she met with her 'contact' in Lowtown at the Hanged Man bar, using the crowd to hide themselves and their conversation.

So many questions had gone through Aveline's head the whole day, and she wasted no time in asking under the cover of the drunken murmurs and yells filling the tavern.

_Did Bethany know what he was doing?_

_Did his boss?_

_Was he in danger?_

_What else could he give her?_

_Did he need more money?_

Garrett had answered as calmly as ever, in stark contrast to her hushed tone and concerned expression, and that frustrated her to no end.

Apparently, Bethany didn't know that he was passing over information to the City Guard via Aveline, nor did his mother or uncle. And that he'd chosen Aveline because he didn't think the other guards would hear him out without arresting him first, or else they'd do something that would tip off certain shady people to what Garrett was doing.

Furthermore, Garrett said he wasn't in any more danger than before, that 'no' he didn't need anymore coin and that she'd paid him enough the other night.

Athenril didn't know what he was going either, the smugglers Aveline and the City Guard had taken down were something like competition and they'd gotten sloppy.

"Sloppy enough to let the City Guard catch onto them... with a little nudge in the right direction" Garrett said taking a drink of water, the cheapest drink in the bar.

Aveline hadn't liked being used like that, but Garrett had said it better this way. Those smugglers dealt in flesh, slave trading, something that both he personally and his boss Athenril refused to do.

That it was the lessor of two evils.

_He has his family to look after, and there's no way he'd live to tell the tale if he ratted on his boss_ Aveline had thought darkly.

As for what else he had for her, nothing right now. His job let him keep an ear to the ground, and he heard a lot of things from the criminal underworld, but he knew not to ask stupid questions.

Regardless, Aveline forcefully handed him a few coins saying that he needed them more than she did. He'd tried to refuse but she'd shoved the coin back into his hands threatening to hit him if he didn't take them.

"Stop that already. You self-sacrificing ass" she muttered.

He raised an eyebrow at that.

"Oh shut up" she said her face turning red.

"... I didn't say anything" Garrett answered softly, his eyes betrayed him however as he looked on the verge of laughter.

"Shut up"

"I still didn't say anything" Garrett said smirking.

"Take the coin, I live alone but you have your family. Maker Garrett, you're walking a dangerous line. Why'd you have to do it? There are other ways to make a living" Aveline said avoiding his sky blue eyes.

"I've tried the other ways. I take odd jobs whenever I can, it's not enough. I do what I have to" Garrett said suddenly sounding like a much older man.

Aveline shook her head muttering under her breath, "self-sacrificing ass."

Garrett had smiled at that as he rose from his seat saying "thanks for the coin, groceries go by quickly with my family."

She'd grabbed him by the arm on his way out.

He'd glanced back confused.

"Just... be careful with what you do. I know you need as much coin as you can get but don't take any unnecessary risks." Aveline had said avoiding his sky blue eyes.

To her shock, Garrett had smiled warmly at her.

"Don't worry about me Aveline. Just promise me something?" he said.

"What?" Aveline asked.

"If something ever happens to me. Promise me that you'll look after Bethany for me. My mother too." Garrett said.

The smile never left his face and Aveline nodded slowly, releasing her grip on him, he truly was the most unusual man she'd ever known.

_That smile..._ Aveline pandered watching him go.

He didn't seem to regret his lot in life, he truly was never bitter, never angry, able to bare the burden of the world with barely a shrug.

Garrett had done what needed to be done in order to get them in the city, had himself and his sister sold into servitude to smugglers, worked every single day, took odd jobs at night and whenever else he could, he put so much strain on himself.

Even now, he walked a dangerous line playing both sides of the law, one wrong step and he'd be arrested by the City Guard or else killed by the seedy underworld of Kirkwall.

Yet he did what he did in the name of his family.

It made Aveline ashamed of herself for ever being so cold to him, time away from the Hawke family had allowed her to mourn privately for Wesley, and now day by day that emotional pain was going away.

She remembered Wesley, but she let him rest. And everyday she felt the apathy she held for Garrett Hawke decline.

Aveline shook her head as Garrett left the bar, most likely heading home to his sister and mother whom knew nothing of the danger he was placing himself in.

"Self-sacrificing ass" she muttered.

* * *

That was the extent of their relationship for a while, Aveline meeting Garrett under the cover of night in the lonesome hard to find places of Lowtown, to trade coin for information.

They didn't see each other much, all things considered, weeks would go by without any trade being made, and when a trade was made, it usually required significant work on the City Guard's part.

Garrett was smart enough to nudge her in the right direction, but never anything too straightforward.

Other times, during patrol she'd see a ruggedly handsome Ferelden refugee working odd jobs around Lowtown by himself. At times she'd catch bandages wrapped about his hands, arms, and once even his face, that had been lovingly applied to any wounds he had.

_Bethany was always a healer by nature_ Aveline would think whenever she caught sight of Garrett's bandaged wounds.

Garrett lived a  _hard_  life, and anyone who knew him could tell by looking at him, yet he never lost that same smile he'd given her at the tavern. She'd see him sometimes with Bethany walking across the street chatting with his sister, and he'd smile at something she said.

They never spoke during these times, maybe an occasional nod at the most, even Bethany knew that smugglers and City Guards shouldn't be speaking in public so the Hawke siblings kept their distance from Aveline and vice versa.

* * *

One night, she was walking along the streets of Lowtown to meet with her 'informant' when she heard a commotion from the alley where she'd normally met Garret.

Aveline broke into a hushed jog, keeping as quiet as she possibly could, and turned the corner into the alley and gasped at the sight before her.

Garrett Hawke, disguised in his common rags and hood, weaving back and forth struggling to fight as he took on five men in leather armor.

He had pulled a knife from somewhere and was using the narrow space of the alley to his advantage, never letting himself get cornered, moving quickly, and managing to not die despite being outnumbered.

Aveline broke into a full run as Garrett managed to stab his knife into the throat of one of the men, before shoving the body towards another attacker. Garrett sidestepped dodging a slash from a longsword, kicking one man, but taking a punch to the face.

Garrett was shoved into a wall, but he used the wall as leverage and kicked an attackers with both his legs. The man fell back with a heavy thud, and Garrett slid to the floor.

One of the men raised a longsword just as Aveline arrived, she tackled the man hard. Knife in her hand finding it's way to his chest, it made a sickening gushing sound as it impaled the attacker through the heart.

Elsewhere, Garrett had gotten to his feet taking a boxer's stance with knife in hand.

Together, the two army veterans fought the attackers in the narrow alley under the night sky. Five against two, longswords against knives.

...

It wasn't easy, but in the end Garrett and Aveline triumphed.

Aveline panted, her knife covered in blood that was not her own, and gazed at the five bodies laying on the floor where they had died in the alley.

"You okay?" Garrett asked and she turned seeing her informant holding a longsword over his shoulder, it too was covered in blood that was not his.

During the fight, Garrett had stolen a longsword from one of his attackers and his skill with a blade far surpassed any of their foes.

"Yeah, who are these people?" Aveline asked studying the leather armor.

Garrett sighed saying "smugglers."

Aveline blinked in surprise, the way Garrett spoke. Infuriating calm as always, speaking about the men whom had tried to kill him as if he was going shopping.  _What the hell is wrong with him!_ She thought mildly annoyed.

She gave him a  _cold_  hard look.

_Who sent them?_ She seemed to say.

_Who do you think?_ Garrett seemed to say as he wiped sweat from his brow.

"Smugglers?" Aveline parroted and Garrett nodded.

"Whatever's left over from the ones you arrested. Not Athenril's men, trust me when I say that if she wanted me dead then I'd be dead" Garrett said with a shrug.

_Stop being so calm you ass. You were almost killed_ Aveline thought with a scowl.

"Are you in danger? Do they know who you are? I can pull some weight with the rest of the guardsmen. I'll be difficult but I can get you into protective custody and then-" Aveline began, when suddenly Garrett put a hand on her shoulder.

"They don't know my name. They only knew someone had been acting as an informant, I let something slip when I was wearing my disguise and let them follow me. I thought there were three, didn't see the other two until it was too late" Garrett said calmly.

Aveline's jaw dropped.

"You knew they were following you and did nothing!" she said nearly shouting.

Garrett raised a finger to his lips.

_Did he just shush me?!_ Aveline thought scowling... until she remembered where they were and what they had been doing. Keeping quiet was a smart idea.

"Knew I could take three, but to be fair not five. Relax Aveline, I knew you'd show up eventually and if not I would've ran. Lose them in the streets of Lowtown" Garrett said.

He made to shrug, and instead flinched at some pain that Aveline had not noticed he was in. Aveline strode forward and grabbed him by the arm so she could get a better look. Sometime during the fight, Garrett had been slashed across his back and sides.

Nothing too deep, but blood was trailing down his shirt and he'd need to get that bandaged quickly.

"I'm taking you in. The barracks have a healer who can-" Aveline began only for Garrett to interrupt by grabbing her hand.

"You do that, and people will know I'm your informant. Too dangerous, just help me home and Bethany will patch me up" Garrett said.

Aveline made to protest, but Garrett smiled softly saying "she always does."

_Survived a murder attempt, bleeding, and he's smiling about the fact that his little sister makes a habit of tending to his wounds. Maker, he's inane_ Aveline thought.

Aveline slung Garrett's arm over her shoulder, and helped him home that night. Garrett insisted they come up with a cover story as he didn't want Bethany knowing of the risks he took to keep his family fed on a weekly basis.

Garrett ditched the common rags and hood he wore for a disguise, revealing a simple shirt and pair of trousers underneath. He also ditched the longsword he'd stolen, Aveline and the City Guard would have to deal with the aftermath of their battle in the alley.

But Aveline already knew what she'd say, the truth... to an extent. Only that her informant had nearly been killed in a skirmish and that he needed to lay low to protect his identity.

As for Garrett's cover?

They decided that Garrett was coming home from working an odd job around town, when he'd been mugged. Aveline had shown up, having just finished her patrol and was heading home, when she'd heard the commotion and stepped in acting as a City Guard.

It was the only way to explain why Aveline had been out of her plate-armor during the mugging, but it seemed to fit well enough. Garrett was always working odd jobs to earn extra coin.

Bethany had been livid upon seeing her brother with dark red stains covering his clothes. Aveline watched bemused as she fussed over him whilst complaining about him always working so late.

Aveline felt awkward as she watched Bethany strip Garrett of his shirt before getting to work on bandaging him up. Judging from the hard look on Bethany's face, Aveline could tell this was not the first time that she'd had to fix her brother up.

"Thanks for saving my brother, Aveline" Bethany said offering her a warm smile, even as she carefully wrapped up Garrett's wounds.

_Those two.. they look out for each other_ Aveline thought. She found it oddly sweet.

Days later, after Aveline had gotten over the fact that her informant had almost been killed, she realized that Garrett had actually been pretty smart about the whole thing.

He'd learned some rival smugglers had gotten away from the City Guards' arrests, and he led them into a trap he set up, however crude, and knew Aveline would be there to back him up eventually. Plus, he even had a plan if Aveline didn't make it in time, losing them in the maze of poverty stricken streets of Lowtown.

Garrett had taken care of things, without exposing his identity, and in the process had revealed to Aveline that the City Guard didn't get all of the slave traders operating in Kirkwall.

He walked a dangerous line, playing both sides of the law, and one wrong step would get him arrested or else killed.

_Self-sacrificing ass_  Aveline thought.

* * *

Months passed, and Aveline had been letting Garrett take things easy for a while, well as easy for him anyway.

She let him rest, and she sent some coin his way every week. It was the least she could do after the risks that he was taking as an informant.

But in the end, after things had settled down again, Aveline once again traded coin for information. Garrett's intel from Kirkwall's criminal underworld led to more of the slave traders and rival smugglers getting arrested.

Aveline was getting a reputation for dealing with crime, this didn't always make her popular with the City Guard but it earned her their respect.

One day, word came from Ferelden that the Fifth Blight was over. The Darkspawn threat dealt with by the new King, Alistair a bastard son of Merric, and the Hero of Ferelden, some city elf that had become a Grey Warden.

There were celebrations in the streets all over Kirkwall, and they went on well into the evening, Aveline found herself patrolling the streets of Lowtown alongside a dozen other guards to keep the peace.

She had a half a mind to join the partying Fereldens, but no she had a job to do.

Whilst patrolling with the other guards, she spotted the Hawke siblings in the Lowtown marketplace and came to a complete stop at the sight that met her eyes.

A lightly drunk Bethany dancing in the street and trying to usher her brother, whom was seated on a simple chair, to join her.

Garrett looked tired, he usually did, had a bandage on his cheek as well as a bruise below his eye, still he smiled warmly and laughed as his little sister reach forward grabbing his wrist and dragging him into the streets with her.

Aveline watched as Garrett was forced to dance alongside his sister with the other celebrating Fereldens, at least until Bethany took a bad step and nearly fell over.

"No more alcohol for you." she'd heard him say as he caught a stumbling Bethany.

Bethany nodded drunkenly as Garrett suddenly slung her over his shoulders and started for home.

He spotted Aveline looking at him, and waved. He made an odd sight, bandaged and bruised, smile planted firmly on his face, and with his little sister gently slung over his shoulders.

She raised an eyebrow at him,  _you let her drink?_

"Just this once" Garrett called as he walked on slowly, taking care not to disturb his clearly drunk sister, as he headed back home.

* * *

After their year in servitude was over, the Hawke siblings decided to meet with Aveline for drinks and to catch up.

Bethany was ecstatic to hear about her success in the City Guard, Garrett had made no mention of the months of dangerous work he'd done as her informant, so neither did she.

Aveline only nodded saying she'd been lucky and gotten good tip offs.

She asked them how they were doing since leaving 'their old line of work' and Garrett had said they there trying to find work on an expedition to the Deep Roads.

"They say the Deep Roads are actually safer now. Everything that happened in the Blight, and what the Hero of Ferelden did" Bethany had said.

Aveline's jaw had dropped at that news.

The Darkspawn had nearly killed them all, and now they wanted to join some expedition going to where the blighted things lived? Did the Hawke siblings have a death wish?

To Garrett's credit, they needed the coin, for one to protect Bethany, and second they wanted to reclaim their mother's birthright and become nobility in Kirkwall.

Aveline couldn't blame them for wanting a life out of poverty.

It was nice catching up with the Hawke siblings.

They'd been through a lot together, and that kind of thing creates a bond. It took awhile, but Aveline had finally gotten over the cold apathy she held for Garrett, logically she'd forgiven him for Wesley, but emotionally... that took longer that she'd have liked to admit.

"Come on Bethany, I think we should head out already. We promised mother we'd be back before dark" Garrett said suddenly.

"Right" Bethany said as she and her brother got up from their table.

"I'll see you around" Aveline called to them as they left.

But Aveline decided that she had to get something off her chest, and she needed to do now before she lost the courage. She rose and jogged after the Hawke siblings, calling out Garrett's name.

He froze, his hand on the tavern door, before he and his sister turned.

"I.. there's something I wanted to say before you left" Aveline said awkwardly as Garrett and Bethany gave her curious looks.

"What?" Garrett asked simply.

Aveline looked away, she couldn't meet his eyes while she admitted the truth, and said "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"I was very... cold, cold to you after we left Ferelden. I had a lot of mixed emotions, I was sad and angry, but I shouldn't have been that way towards you. I shouldn't have treated you like that, what you did for my husband was a mercy" Aveline admitted finally.

There, months of hard work and she'd finally grown up and told the truth. She couldn't not like Garrett, he was too good of a person, and somehow that annoyed her at times.

She felt a hand on her shoulder, and looked up meeting the two sets of sky blue eyes before her.

"I forgive you" Garrett said with a soft smile.

"Don't be so hard on yourself. We all lost people, but we have each other, I wouldn't trade that for anything"

_Just... just like that?_ Aveline thought in awe.

Bethany smiled giving Aveline a quick goodbye hug as Garrett let her go.

"It's okay, you're always welcome to have dinner with us. Mother would love to catch up too" Bethany said as she turned to leave alongside her brother.

"I think I'd like that" Aveline said, a smile working it's way onto her lips.

The first real smile she'd had since her husband had died.

* * *

Aveline ended up helping the Hawke siblings gather coin for their expedition.

In an odd turn of events, Garrett and Bethany had made common cause with Varric Tethras, and came to terms regarding the expedition.

Her jobs as a City Guard kept her busy, but they were her friends and so she helped them whenever she could.

She often found herself joining the Hawke siblings and Varric for dinner at Gamlen's hut, the odd cranky man didn't like it, but Leandra loved their company.

They may not have had much, with the exception of Varric, but Garrett had a point about them having each other, having companionship and friends.

Friends, what an odd thing for Aveline to have these days.

She wasn't always well-liked in the City Guard, partly because she was Ferelden, partly because she'd outshone some of the more senior guards in her duties thanks to Garrett's help, and lastly because she'd become something of a loner since Wesley died.

But times had changed, old wounds were healing. And it was good to have friends.

Aveline found that she liked being around Garrett, he was a calm serious man to be sure, but he had his humorous moments too and they usually involved his sister. More than that, he'd been a true friend to her through everything.

He'd helped her take down a lot of crime, he was an army veteran like her, and he understood the pain of losing a loved one.

...

One day the Hawke siblings and Varric returned the favor, helping her instead of the other way around.

They helped her investigate corruption within the very City Guard, and together they uncovered that Guard Captain Jeven was selling secrets and putting the lives of his guardsmen at risk for coin.

When Aveline had brought the information to the Viscount, the Guard Captain had been immediately stripped of his office and arrested. There was talk that perhaps one day, Aveline would rise to fill the position, but that would come later.

Aveline made sure to credit Garrett when speaking with the Viscount, and suitable coin was rewarded to the Hawke siblings.

In time, Garrett and Varric recruited more people to gather funds for the expedition. More than that, they added companions, allies, and friends to their little group of people living life in Kirkwall.

Isabela, a former pirate of some kind, whom Aveline did not got along with. They were different in just about every way, and she hated seeing the girl flirt with just about everything that moved.

Fenris, an odd fellow to be sure, a former slave, an angry man whom nonetheless became Garrett's friend and ally.

Merrill, a Dalish mage, and an apostate, that had been hard to swallow for Aveline. She didn't like it, but she agreed not to report it to the templars, she wasn't a member of their order anyway.

Anders... well, if she'd known what he'd become in a few years then she'd have brought him to the templars. She'd have helped them take him in too, this former Grey Warden whom Garrett and Varric needed to help guide them through the Deep Roads.

Regardless, Gamlen's hut became too small with their new friends joining them, and so they met in Varric's private suite in the Hanged Man.

They were working towards a goal, getting funds, but for a time things were good. One man brought together a diverse group of people and called them each 'friend'.

Garrett had that effect on people, he could bring them together despite their differences.

* * *

The day the Hawke siblings had gathered enough coin for their expedition, was the happiest she'd ever seen Garrett.

He carried that sense of purpose, a calm but warm smile planted on his face, even as he and all their friends celebrated.

Aveline didn't go with them to the Deep Roads, she was a City Guard and soon the Viscount would be sending her to undergo training for the role of Guard Captain.

What surprised her was that Bethany wasn't going with her brother. Apparently there'd been an argument about her going, but in the end the younger Hawke was forced to stay behind in Kirkwall.

Garrett had gone into too much detail, and Aveline hadn't asked, the day she went to see him off with all their other friends.

"Listen, I'm gonna be gone for awhile. Would you mind keeping an eye on my family for me?" Garrett asked suddenly.

"Garrett, you don't have to ask. You know I will" Aveline said.

The two of them were speaking privately away from the others, she in her guardsmen plate-armor and he in his new leather armor.

"You better hurry before they leave without you. Go, and be safe out there Sir Hawke" Aveline said grinning.

"I'm not a noble yet" Garrett said with a raised eyebrow.

"Just getting ready. I'm sure Varric will never let me hear the end of it, we'll have to call you 'Lord Hawke' from now on." Aveline laughed.

"I'll always be Garrett to my friends" he answered seriously.

"Hawke! Come on, we're getting ready to head out!" Varric called out.

They turned see the expedition gathering their supplies, the crew double checking everything, and the crowd of gathered friends and locals seeing them off.

Aveline turned to go, she'd said her goodbye, when suddenly Garrett grabbed her by the wrist.

She turned, surprised at his touch, as his sky blue eyes met hers.

"Aveline... the Deep Roads is a dangerous place. Promise me, that if something happens down there... that if I don't make it back... promise me that you'll look after Bethany for me" Garrett said.

The look in his eye, he knew he could die down there yet he didn't seem to care, he only wanted assurances that if he failed someone would look after his sister.

"I promise" Aveline said squeezing his hand in hers firmly.

"Thank you" Garrett said his voice nearly trembling with emotion as he said his farewell, he clamped her on the shoulder before running off to say goodbye to family.

She watched him, watched him hug his sister and kiss his mother's cheek, and watched as Bethany wrapped her arms around him one last time before he left.

"To the Deep Roads!" Varric and his brother Beartand called as the expedition set off.

She found herself standing beside Bethany as the crowd of gather locals and friends clapped, applauding the brave men and women venturing out into the unknown.

Aveline glanced at the figure of Garrett walking amid the crew, and then at Bethany watching him go, at the bond they shared.

_Self-sacrificing ass_ Aveline thought with a smirk.

* * *

**Why is it, that bad things happen good people?**

The older Aveline got, the more she found herself asking that question. The world could seem a cruel and unforgiving, and there didn't seem to be any reason for it.

More than a month after Garrett Hawke had departed with the expedition to the Deep Roads, he'd returned to Kirkwall.

Only he and Varric had been betrayed, and left for dead by Varric's brother Bartrand. Abandoned in the Deep Roads, Garrett and the others had had to find their own way out. Fighting their way past Darkspawn, giant spiders, and whatever else thrived in the dark tunnels of the Deep Roads.

As Garrett had been fighting just to get back home, Aveline had been watching over Bethany and Leandra. She would often join them for dinner while Garrett was away, she helped them pay the bills, and kept an eye on Bethany or else kept her company on her days offs.

But yet another tragedy struck the Hawke family, one that Garrett and Aveline had feared since first arriving in Kirkwall.

The templars had taken Bethany away...

Aveline hadn't been there, she was still a City Guard and she was on patrol when it happened. Only finding out the next morning.

The templars had come for Bethany in the dead of night, taking the family by surprise.

That same night, Garrett made it back home having managed to find some treasure after all. Poor Garrett had ran home to tell his family the good news, that he was back, that they'd stuck gold, that their days in poverty would be a thing of the past.

Instead, he walked in on the templars taking his little sister away.

If the rumors were true, he'd have taken the templars on all by himself but Bethany had stopped him, she hadn't wanted him to get in trouble.

Aveline heard the rumors before she even spoke with the Hawke family.

When she was off duty, she'd shown up at Gamlen's hut and knocked. Gamlen had answered the door looking drunk, more so than usual, and Leandra was sitting the corner all by herself. She'd started cooking breakfast, but she'd set the table with one too many plates.

As for Garrett, he'd taken off in the early morning saying that he needed some air and to clear his mind.

He hadn't been seen for some time.

After comforting Leandra, Aveline had taken off trying to find Garrett but not even Varric could say where he had gone.

Aveline however, thought she knew where'd he be.

...

The sun was setting when she found him at the Docks, sitting at an empty peer all by himself, his head facing away from her as he looked far into the distance.

She recognized his silhouette, even with mixture of dark red and yellow painted over the scene by the setting sun, this day was passing and with it, their lives would change. The wind blew lightly across her face, how tragic that such a beautiful day marked such a terrible time.

Years later, and Aveline still remembers calmly walking to him and taking a seat beside him.

He said nothing, and neither did she.

They sat there together in silence for quite some time. Two Fereldeners, army veterans, who'd been through a lot together, sitting at an empty peer watching the Gallows in the distance.  **The Gallows where Kirkwall housed its Circle of Magi.**

Aveline had known she'd find Garrett here, it was the closest he could get to the Circle without being a templar, the closest he could get to Bethany again.

"She's gone" Garrett said after awhile.

Aveline turned to look at him, the wind whipping gently across their faces and sending their hair ruffling, and saw the somber lonely look in his eyes.

The Garrett she'd known was gone, this was not the kind hearted soul, always calm and collected, always full of hope, this was a sad man who'd seen one too many tragedy in his day.

"I sorry" Aveline said feeling quite sad herself.

Garrett shook his head, and slammed a clench fist into the wood of the peer they sat on, and Aveline heard the wood crack from the force of the blow. She flinched, keeping her eyes on the trembling man before her.

"I wasn't there when she needed me. I let her down... I couldn't save her" Garrett said his voice trembling with emotion, his hands clenched into fists.

"It's not your fault" Aveline said reaching over and taking his hand in hers gently.

"I'm the man of my family. I was supposed to protect them. I was supposed to keep Bethany safe... I- I promised my father I'd take care of everyone. But I... I... couldn't keep my promise" Garrett said in barely a whisper.

He shook as he spoke, bottled up emotions raging within him with nowhere to go. Rage, sadness, regret, Aveline could only guess.

She felt his hand trembling in hers, and inlaid her fingers with his.

"There's nothing you could have done. I'm sorry, but that's life. You didn't fail your father Garrett, I'm sure he'd have been proud of you" Aveline said softly.

She squeezed his hand gently and saw that he was on the verge of tears.

"Come here" Aveline said softly and rested his head against her shoulder. He slumped against her without resistance, his hand still in hers.

"My little sister" he said in a flat empty voice.

She ran a hand through his hair gently. "It's not your fault" Aveline said.

_You did everything you could. If you want to blame someone, then blame me. I promised you that I'd keep an eye on Bethany, but I couldn't keep that promise. It's not your fault... it's mine_ she thought.

Aveline wanted to tell him, but she knew he wouldn't have any of it. He would never have let her take the blame for this, he'd only ever blame himself and himself alone.

Garrett Hawke, one of the best people she'd ever known, and he just had to be a self-sacrificing man...

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like writing these, to show the impact Hawke had on the people who's lives he touched. To show different aspects of the character, like how Gar

**Author's Note:**

> The moment I came to that point in Inquisition, I knew I had to make a fic exploring how Hawke's sibling would feel. I've always loved the Hawke siblings, and I wanted more closure to their stories.  
> This is something that really got to me, if you choose to leave Garrett behind in the Fade. Bethany being the last Hawke, her parents both dead, her twin dead, and now her older brother gone.   
> She would be alone... 
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
